


An Unhealthy Obsession: Craig

by TangerineDT



Series: An Unhealthy Obsession [3]
Category: Dialtown: Phone Dating Sim (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Dark, Drug Use, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:13:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29995098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TangerineDT/pseuds/TangerineDT
Summary: The Third and Final Installment of An Unhealthy Obsession
Series: An Unhealthy Obsession [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871806
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	An Unhealthy Obsession: Craig

“Argh! I can’t do this!” I complain, slumping my head onto the piano.

“Control your tone.” Mother sits herself beside me on the bench, rubbing my back. “And you can do this! It’s only a slightly more difficult piece, you’re not always going to get it on your first try.”

“I know this, Mother. But why is Greg so much more skilled than me when it comes to playing these infuriating instruments? I almost wish for his fingers to be broken so that I may catch up with him.”

“Now, now, let’s not wish harm upon the family, hm? Have you thought about asking your brother for help?” She asks after a brief pause.

“I have. He told me to clear my mind and envision nothing but the piece in front of me, or something along those lines.” I say, grumbling.

“And have you taken his words to heart?”

“No… I’ve been trying to do it without his tricks, however helpful they may happen to be.” I sit back up, staring at the yellowed keys.

“Why is that?” Mother prys, wrapping her arm around me, pulling me close.

“B-Because if I succeed by his methods, then am I any different than him? How am I unique?”

“Oh, honey,” She hugs me, “what makes you different is how you use the methods handed to you. Follow them to practice for now, and when you feel comfortable enough, try adding to it. Give it your own spark!”

“Yes, Mother, I’ll give it a try.” I tell her as she rises and returns to what she was doing before. My gaze roams back to my hands resting on the keys. Why does father spend more time with him anyway? Is he giving him private lessons? No, that's preposterous. He would have given me the option too. Never mind that. Focus. I close my ‘eyes’ and take a few breaths.

“Huh?” I open my ‘eyes’ as I feel another pair of hands rest over mine. Whose dark hands are these? W-who… I look up, and looming over me is a very tall man, his head… is it moving?

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble lately.” He coos, his hands moving from mine, up my arms, and stopping at my neck.

“What are-?”

“Time to pay your dues.” He whispers in my ‘ear’. I… I can’t breathe- where did the piano go? I… I can’t…

“Help!!” I open my ‘mouth’ to scream, but a woman's voice screams out instead. Where am I? That was… a dream? I look down to my shaking hands, a bedsheet being clutched within them. My goodness, it feels like my heart is trying to leap out of my chest. I look around the room for anybody else, but it’s just me in here. Who screamed?

“Hel-” I begin to say, but my voice gets caught in my throat as I hear the woman again.

“Who’s there?” I gasp, whipping my head to every corner of the room. Nobody is in here. That was my voice.

“What the hell is going on…” That is indeed coming from me, but why do I sound like this? I look down at my hands again. These are for certain my hands. I reach up to my… my head. It feels different. Where my sleek dome should be I feel metal and plastic instead. This is wrong, I feel wrong, I need to find someone… Scanning the minimalistic room once more, it appears I'm in a hospital, but there seems to be no flowers or cards on any of the stands and tables. Does anyone know that I’m here? Surely I must have just had a rambunctious night and went a little overboard… surely. I toss the covers on me to the side, sliding off the edge and onto the cold tile floor, my legs buckling underneath me.

“Agh!” I regain my balance, almost falling face first into the floor. I quickly glance around the room. Yup, that was still my voice. Staggering over to the exit, I pause with my hand on the knob, and as quickly as I touch it I let go. Instead of leaving I enter the bathroom, turn on the light, and step in front of the mirror. My still shaking hands reach up to it.

“M-my head… what scoundrel did this…?” In place of where my beautiful light had been, an outdated, generic, silver typewriter sits fashioned onto my neck. Is this some kind of sick joke? This is not okay, someone is going to pay for another switch, preferably the bastard that is responsible for this.

“Gah! Fuck me…” I clutch the side of my head, a killer ache searing through it. I step away from the mirror and head for the door, but it opens before I reach it, a scalpel headed doctor and a cop stepping in.

“Ah! I see you’re finally awake and about. Please, take a seat on the bed.” The doctor says. An ID hanging from his neck reads ‘Dr. Circa Sission’.

“I’d prefer to stand, thank you very much.” I reply, the sound of my new voice making itself more known to me.

“That wasn’t an offer. Sit down.” We both stare at each other for a good second before I decide to comply. Circa sets down the clipboard he brought in and begins to examine my head. My gaze wanders over to the man in blue who is leaning against the wall, presumably waiting for a chance to speak with me. Why is there a cop here anyway? I need to get some phone calls in after this, check in with Drew maybe. I should send Greg a letter, it’s been awhile since… Greg. Mother. Oh god, how could I have forgotten? I need to call Randy and- oh no, is he okay? How long has it been, how did I get here-

“Craig! Are his ‘ears’ not working? Hey, snap out of it.” Circa snaps his fingers in front of my face as I manage to escape my mental crisis. My hands shoot out and I grab him by the shoulders.

“What day is it today!?” I ask, but the words barely leave my mouth as the cop steps forward and pushes me back, holding me down against the bed. The doctor has stepped away from me, visibly shaken.

“Watch it, you.” The man holding me down says. “You are in no position to be making such sudden moves. Now, when I move away, you are to stay sitting here, you understand me?”

“Look, I’m sorry officer, I didn’t mean any ill intent. Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?” I reply, the cop slowly releasing his grip on me. He turns to Circa, who is already preparing to leave the room.

“I’m done here, he should be fine to leave if you intend to take him in. He’s all yours.” Circa says to the officer as he quickly leaves the room. The cop sits down across from me, staring me down as a long silence hangs in the air.

“So… wanna fill me in on what's been going on?” I try to ask in the nicest way possible after waiting for him to speak up.

“You of all people should know.” He blatantly states.

“Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?” This guy is seriously getting on my nerves.

“It means you're gonna tell me exactly what happened that night.”

“What night? I don’t even know what gosh darn day it-”

“Don’t you get smart with me! You know what I’m referring to!” He yells.

“I don-”

“What were you doing the night you killed your father?!” A sudden chill crawls up my back. What did he just say?

“He… My father is dead?” My voice wavers as I speak, my hands shaking once more. Keep calm, surely this is just a prank, a horrible prank set up by Vicky, or maybe Nate…

“Oh don’t play all innocent, I’m not buying into your act. Where were you on February twentieth?”

“I don’t remember! The last thing I can recall is the day before, or maybe a couple days… either way I was in my dorm hanging with a friend, when this dude kicked down my door and snatched me! And why am I being blamed for this? What day is it, and where is my head? And how do you even know I am who you think I am?”

“Now, wait just a minute.” The cop says in a calmer tone. “There was no report of a kidnapping that day, only a guy with a head injury who wouldn’t stop crying.”

“That's him! I had Randy over that day! Blue mobile? Always looks like he’s trying to pull off a bad canadian tuxedo?” The cop stares at me, then puts his head in his hands.

“Why does this have to be so damn confusing?” He mutters to himself. Did I just help or harm my case?

“Officer, please, I’m in the dark about all this. What is going on?” I plead, my chest aching from the confusion.

“You really don’t know, huh?” He asks. I nod. “It’s currently March twelfth. Given five more hours, you would have been here for more than three weeks.” What? How has it been that long? Oh christ, what about school, I’m going to face expulsion! Father is going to… do nothing.

“Alright, you owe me an explanation.” I say, digging my nails into my side. Why did I sound so demanding? I need to watch it, especially after I just maybe saved myself jail time.

“First of all, I don’t owe you anything. Second off, I’ll tell you what I know, but don’t you get smart with me again.” I nod furiously. “We got an alert from the security system at the mansion, but by the time we got there, the murderer was gone. The butler was found in the foyer with three bullet wounds in his chest. Poor bastard probably bled to death.” He begins to explain, his gaze fixated on me for any change in expression.

“Singa…” I mumble. He’s the strongest person I’ve ever known, and he just went down like a deer in headlights?

“Your father was found face down in the pool, thirty seven stab wounds and a broken leg is only just me mentioning the least of what happened to him.”

“That’s… horrifying.”

“Indeed, and you know what the kicker is? The cameras caught you in the act.” He says, his tone flat and unamused.

“But that's preposterous! I would never-”

“I know, you can stop telling me. The only reason I believe you right now is because there was a sighting of you just a week ago. So unless you're lying to me, or you're an accomplice, then that freak is still at large. Hell, we can’t even find Briggs…” He mutters the last part to himself mostly.

“So… how did you know I am… me? And where was I found?” I ask, lowering my voice. He starts to chuckle to himself, a sinking feeling forming in my gut.

“Well, you were found outside a smoldering thrift shop, headless. As for your identity, the nurses found your name sewn into your briefs.” He says, still having a fit of giggles. I never knew this level of embarrassment was possible, why did I have to wake up? The officer stands and steps toward me, a metal device in hand. He kneels and fastens it to my ankle, the device beeping thrice once latched.

“What is that?” I ask, my nervousness showing.

“It keeps track of your location, and if you try to remove it, it will send out a distress signal. I know your story is believable and all, but your only alibi ran away and is currently missing, and if I made a mistake in looking for your doppelganger, I’ll know exactly where you are. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Need I remind you, your being suspected for possibly more than two accounts of murder, criminal possession of firearms, arson, and human trafficking, so be mindful of what you do out there.”

“Wait, why human trafficking?” I ask, unsure if I want to know the answer.

“Let’s just say there have been a lot of cases dug up in the past couple of weeks. Now, I have to go, but you’re free to leave whenever you want. Don’t make me regret giving you this freedom.” As he finishes speaking, he gives one last look at me before leaving the room. I don’t move from my spot for I don’t know how long. My whole family is gone… why? Who would want us dead that badly? Am I the only one who survived? This is all too bizarre- and Christ, three weeks? I can’t show up to school looking like this, nobody would believe me. My heart is racing, I- I need to calm down or my… my bulb. I don’t… have to worry about that no more. I look down at my body adorned in scrubs, and then around the room.

“Where are my things?” I wonder out loud, standing and rummaging through some drawers near a night stand. Upon opening the second after seeing the first had naught but lint, a pile of properly folded clothes stares back up at me. I know all too well that the hospital will give you spare clothes if you came here wearing unacceptable apparel, let alone any, by the time you leave. My pajama pants, stained with blood, one of my favorite tye-dye shirts, a fresh pair of jeans, some lousy high tops, and… a big brown coat? I toss the coat aside and strip out of these uncomfortable scrubs, slipping into jeans that barely fit my already thin waist. After putting my shirt on by stretching open the elastic collar, I pull out the tray of personal items that the nurses must have collected from my pockets.

“Oh thank goodness.” I grab my phone and let out a heavy sigh as I see it still has charge left. Besides the phone, the tray is only littered with random change and a few scraps of paper that read the names of people I don’t recognize. I pocket the coin and toss the papers, deciding to also leave the large jacket. I don’t think I’ll be needing it. My chest starts hurting again, but that's to be expected with a sudden head change.

I walk out into the brightly lit hallway, the beams of light on the ceiling burning into my ‘eyes’. I start down toward where I remember the exit being from my past visits as both a visitor and as a patient. Nurses and other staff avert their gaze and try to avoid walking near me as they pass, my name being exchanged through quiet gossip. I know they are afraid because of what happened and the word being thrown around, but it just feels so strange being the center of attention this once. I don’t want- don’t need this kind of attention. I keep my head down until I reach the automatic doors and step out into the cold night air. It feels different this time, the air, the colors, all much more… vibrant. It feels easier to breathe.

Snapping out of it, I pull out my phone and sit myself down on a bench near the road. Let's see here… Pat… Raine- Ah! Randy!

“Please be awake…” I say, dialing up his number. He answers almost immediately.

“Craig m-my sweet! Finally found your phone, h-huh? ...Craig? Hello? Are you there?” What does he mean ‘finally’? Why didn’t he ask if I was okay or maybe even how I got away, although I didn’t. Oh no, what was I thinking, he is not going to believe I’m me with this voice. This was a mistake… do I hang up, or wait for him to hang up?

“Uhm… uh… hello?” Randy says, also unsure of what to do.

“Randy!” I hear a distant voice call out. “Hey, I was maybe thinking… you alright? Who are you talking t-” I hang up the phone, my heart racing faster than I would have allowed it prior to all this. That was my voice. He… they… I think I’m gonna be sick. That bastard, he’s trying to steal my identity, my whole life! He’s g-going to pay for this, for everyone’s life he has suddenly taken. I still can’t believe tha-

“Hrk!” I lurch over the side of the bench and empty my stomach, my whole body shaking. I… I don’t think I’ve ever been this stressed. Where can I even go, who can I even call? Lenny out of all people would likely understand, but I don’t even know where to find him if he’s not hosting tonight. Yeah, but first things first. That detective I hired, he must know something about all of this. God! His business card, it’s with the rest of my personals in my dorm, which I don’t want to even attempt at getting into right now, Drew might be there. Why he hasn’t even tried to call is beyond me, but I’m sure he has reasons. I lean back, groaning in despair. I’m going to have to take a taxi.

“I hope I have enough for the fare.” I sigh, sifting through the little bit of money in my pockets. I’d honestly rather take the subway, but that would take too much time. I rise to my feet and stand by the road, hoping that the hospital is an area regularly checked for possible riders. I pull out my phone again and scroll through my list of contacts, but I don’t think I could get through to any of them over a call. Well, maybe Ulani, but I am not gonna call them if I can help it. Father may be gone, but I must focus on what I still may have. Mother and Greg could still very well be alive, and that brute who’s trying to destroy the Fenton name will be brought to justice if I have anything to say about it. Enjoy my head while you have it, because I am going to rip it off your sorry excuse for a-

“Oi!” I jump back and nearly fall over as a man calls out to me after silently rolling up in a taxi. “Ya’ need a ride?”

I- uh- Yes! I do!” I state, hastily putting my phone away. I finish collecting myself and look up, stopping immediately. Sitting at the wheel is a man with a pistol for a head, an orange stopper in his barrel. But that is not why I stopped. Glued to the stopper is a pair of large googly eyes that dance around as he moves his head. It is extremely rude to laugh in one's face without reason, but this guy is just asking for ridicule.

“Sir, may I ask why you have such nonsensical items plastered onto your face?” I ask, trying to choose my words very carefully as to not lose my potential ride.

“Well, before, I scared me customers a few times with how I looked, so I feel like this makes me look less threatenin’. Now hop in, let’s burn some rubba!” He pauses, “Only if need be, o’ course.”

“Right…” This guy seems pretty harmless. I open up the door and settle into the backseat. The interior is surprisingly clean.

“Where to, ma’am?” He asks, my body becoming rigid.

“Chestler street. You can just drop me off in front of the florist there.” I’m not going to correct him, he doesn’t need to know my situation.

“Can do!” He says in a peppy tone. “Kinda late to be grabbin’ flowers, but who am I ta’ question. Are ya’ in a rush at all?”

“No.” I say firmly.

“Darn.” He whispers, seemingly disappointed. I ignore him and pull out my phone again, opening my messages. There isn’t a lot, mostly from my family, but one from Lenny stands out at the top. It was sent last week.

From: Lennard  
To: Craig F.  
Message: hey man, whats been goin on w you lately? you wont answr my calls and im starting to get worried over here. i see you attending my raves but im lettin you have some space cause it seems maybe you need it. look i know you have college and family stuff on your back, but i am here if you evr need to talk. at least just say your okay or somethin so i at least know your okay. hope to hear from you soon bro

This is worrying. Is that fraud looking for me? I suppose I shouldn’t text Randy right now then. Well, if he is with Randy, then maybe I should take this chance to go see Lenny. Maybe… whats next?

From: Uncle Berry  
To: Craig F.  
Message: Hey kiddo, I’m assuming your going to get a lot of hate messages from the family and possibly even friends, but I just don’t believe it all. I know how much you respected my brother. I don’t know if you ditched your phone in fear of being traced, but if you didn’t and you see this, don’t be afraid to reach out to me. I’ll listen.

Sure enough, every other unread message is a hateful speech against me. It’s nice to see that even against pretty solid evidence, Berry still believes that it wasn’t me, for whatever reason. I’d call him right now if it weren’t for my voice. He would probably understand but… I can’t bear that right now. I slowly open my spam folder, recent messages from this week sent by Ulani. The beginning of one of the messages starts with ‘Hey Firefly~’, and once seeing that, I immediately put the phone back away. I do not need their advances tormenting me at this time. The car begins to slow, and peeking out the window I see that we’ve reached the small little flower shop, but that’s not what I’m here for.

“This is it!” The driver yells to the back.

“Would you kindly wait for me here? I promise I won’t be long.” I ask him.

“O’ course! Make it snappy though.”

“Thank you so much!” I shoot back, exiting onto the sidewalk. I rush past the closed flower shop and over to the detectives office of operations only to suddenly stop as I see a sign taped to the glass door: ‘Closed until further notice’.

“No… no, no no no, this cannot be happening. Curses!” I shout, slamming my fists on the glass, “You’re my only source of information!” He can’t just be gone, I need him. Now I’m truly in the dark about everything… it’s fine. This is okay, lets just go see Lenny now. Hopefully he can be of some help.

“Everythin’ okay every there?” The taximan asks, leaning out his window. I let out a shaky breath before returning to the car.

“I’m fine. Can you drive me out to the old factory district?” I ask. The driver pauses for a moment, his silly getup almost cheering me up a little.

“I s’pose. Don’t like to drive that far out, but it can be done.”

“Thank you, this means a lot.” I say, taking my seat in the back once more. We enter downtown fairly quickly, the lights and neon signs filling the small view I have with the window. For once, I just feel nervous to walk amongst the crowd again, nobody will recognize me with this foreign disguise on my shoulders. The only upside to all of this is that I won’t have any problems getting to Lenny through the massive crow that is likely to be there. Unless Danny is present. Ugh, too friendly, maybe I’ll just go in through Lenny’s window. All the lights begin to become fewer as we enter the more industrial areas, the air even becoming slightly unpleasant in the car. I lurch forward unexpectedly as the vehicle comes to a halt.

“Sorry for the sudden stop! This here be as far as I will go.” The taximan says, fiddling around with a device in the front. “No need ta’ pay for the ride, seems like you’ve been through a lot, especially if you’re comin’ out here this late.”

“I…” Was not expecting this, “thank you, good sir.”

“Not a bother.” He replies warmly. I open the door and step out onto the quiet road, waving to the driver as he backs up and leaves. Not wasting any time, I turn on my heel and begin jogging through the very narrow alleyways running next to the factories, hopping over piles of broken glass and spoiled food. Even from this distance I can hear the sweet sounds that Celeb, Lenny’s DJ, is blasting from a nearby abandoned factory. Thank the gods that Lennard chose to cycle back to this location. I pick up the speed as the rave is basically calling to me at this point. Steering clear of the front entrance, I instead go around back to a broken egress window that leads into Lenny’s personal tent made from quilts and hung rugs. I jump down into the small pit and leap through the opening, landing on a giant pile of pillows and rolling onto the carpeted floor. I rise to my feet to be met with a solid sock to the face, knocking me back onto the mountain of pillows.

“Agh! Cease! What is wrong with you!?” I scream, scrambling to get to my feet only to fall back once more due to the shifting pillows. The guy that hit me grabs me by the neck of my shirt, ready to pummel me in.

“Hey! Hey!! Knock it off!” I hear Lenny yell from somewhere in the tent. The lout on top of me gets distracted by him, giving me the chance to counter. I knee him in the gut and he yelps in pains, rolling onto his side.

“Goddamn slack jawed maniac.” I mutter, getting to my feet. I look over to where I heard Lenny’s voice, and sure enough, he’s lounging in his favorite beanbag accompanied by Milo and Sven, two stray cats he saved from starving in a dumpster. He’s wearing his usual, which consists of only a bathrobe and basketball shorts, his old beanie topping it off on his fading brown rotary.

“Lenny, I-” I start to say, but he cuts me off, holding up a finger.

“Miss, I don’t mean to be condescending, but I am not going to talk to you until you help Pinto up and apologize to each other.” He says, calming the startling felines. I look back to Pinto who is still down on the ground, gasping for air.

“He attacked me though!” I argue, baffled by even the thought of mending my very recent relationship with that man, but Lenny just stares back at me, waiting. Classic Lennard. I turn to Pinto and offer my hand, to which he cautiously takes.

“Despite the fact that you hit me unprovoked, I will put it behind me for now.” That hurt to say. He gives me a strange look.

“Uh… yeah. I apologize too… I guess.” Pinto awkwardly says, wheezing slightly. Come on, I didn't knee you that hard.

“Hm… I’ll accept this.” Lenny shrugs. “Now, what is it you wanted from me? I feel like I know you…”

“I want Pinto to leave before I speak.” I demand, glaring at the jock.

“Okay. Hey, Pinto! Sorry for this, we’ll find some other time, kay? Don’t go startin’ fights now!” Lenny says to Pinto as Pinto leaves the indoor tent, leaving just me and the carefree host.

“Who are you? Did Ulani send you? I’ve already repaid what I borrowed, they can get off my ass now.” It’s not often that he's annoyed, did I interrupt something?

“Ulani didn’t send me. Lenny, it’s me, Craig.” A brief moment of silence hangs in the air before Lenny bursts out laughing. “I don’t see how any of this is funny.

“I don’t mean to laugh, but c’mon, Craig would never replace his head with something so dull!” He says in between wheezes.

“Lennard, I really don’t have the patience right now, I-”

“Oh, but I do.” He cuts me off, still cackling. I pull out my phone.

“Look! It’s my phone, you see? Same stains from the punch bowl!”

“But that could be anyone's phone.” Lenny retorts. Why is he being so difficult?

“Tsk, what can I say to prove to you that I’m me?

“Well…” He says, pondering deeply. “I’ve got it! Recount to me what happened on the first night that you got completely shitfaced around me.”

“You… can’t it be anything else? I’d prefer to keep that night buried away, thank you very much.”

“I refuse to be persuaded by any other means.” Lenny crossed his arms. The people that I put up with…

“Fine. From what I recall, and from what you told me, I got fairly carried away and spoke to a plastic cup… for an hour straight. There, believe me now?”

“Woah, hold on there, you’re missing the rest of the night! Go on, continue.” He’s obviously getting a kick out of this.

“Whatever. I tried to eat a set of poker chips, tried to make out with the DJ that was working that night, and played with your cats. There, happy now?”

“Almost. What did you say as you were holding up Sven?”

“...”

“C’mon, spit it out.” He says, trying to hold in laughter.

“... puss puss go zoom.” I respond quietly.

“Hm? I didn’t quite hear that.” Lenny says in a melodious tone.

“Puss puss go zoom! Ugh! Why do you torment me like this ?!” I yell.

“Just messin’ with ya man. So, what's with the sudo sex change?” Lenny blatantly says with a laugh. I take a moment to collect myself.

“That's part of what I came to talk to you about.” I sigh. Lenny gasps.

“Are you having second thoughts about transitioning?”

“Why- what do you- I- No! This wasn’t of my own doing!” I point to my head, completely exasperated. “Will you just listen? Please?”

“Okay, alright, enough toyin’, serious mode: on! What’s up?” About time.

“Well, I assume you already know part of why I’m here.” I begin, waiting for some sort of acknowledgement from him. He stares at me blankly.

“Nope.”

“You're joking… right?”

“Nope.”

“Do you ever listen to the radio, or watch the television?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“Nope. Enlighten me.”

“Oh boy,” I start, taking a deep breath, “my father was murdered, my mother and brother are missing, and someone out there has my head, so I’m being framed. I just woke up in the hospital hours ago with this scrap metal screwed on and I have nowhere safe to go. That's the short version. Would it be too much trouble to ask if I could stay with you for a little while?”

“Okay, wait, hold on. Are you telling me that the guy I’ve been seeing attend the past couple weeks isn’t you?” Lenny asks.

“That is correct, unfortunately. From what I was told, I’ve been bedridden for at least a month.

“Bummer… man I- I wish I could help you out, I really do, but I’m gonna be busy these next few days. Plus, I don’t have a place of my own, I just kinda float around.” He says, looking down at the floor. He snaps his fingers suddenly. “But hey! If you need something to do tomorrow, you could tag along with me. I’m going to an event to hopefully make some extra money!”

“I suppose I could attend, nothing wrong with a good gamble.” I say, weighing the option in my head.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun! If you need a place to sleep for tonight, you can always use my fortress.” He says, chuckling. I give a small chortle in response.

“Thank you. Even though you haven't offered much, I’m still grateful for the little bit you have given.” Lenny stands up as I thank him, opening his arms for a hug. I step forward and accept it.

“Not a problem, my man. You may be in a bad spot right now, but good things are yet to come.” He says, patting my back and stepping away. “Also, you may want to avoid coming here, seeing as the ‘other you’ is hanging around here as well. Might be lookin’ for you.

“That’s what I assumed. But honestly, staying in these kinds of places grants me the perfect safety: a crowd. That, along with this distasteful head, puts me in a safe spot.” I say, confidence rising within me.

“If you say so, broski.” Now, get out there and let loose, it looks like you need it. We’ll talk more in the morning.” Lenny tells me, falling backward into his beanbag.

“Sounds like a plan.” Just for one night, I’ll forget about every hardship plaguing me, and tackle them in the morn. My, how good it feels to be back. I stop and turn to Lenny once more.

“What exactly is this event you speak of, anyhow?”

“Just a dogfight or sorts, nothing too major. Oh! That reminds me.” He leans over to grab something from a box, tossing it in my direction. I manage to catch it. “Go crazy, Loki.” I open my hand to see a brightly colored rock, its rainbow residue already leaving dust on my palm. I snicker, covering my ‘mouth’.

“With pleasure.”


End file.
